Spring-wheel.



H. G. HORSTMAN SPRING WHEEL. APPLlATIoN HLEDYsEPT. 3, 191s.

1,246,481. Patented N0v. 13, ,1911k ATTORNEYS UNi'rED sfrafrns rrnNr onirica,

` YHORACE e; Hons'ri/IAN, or CINCINNATI,V orIIo'.

'A SPRING-WHEEL. j

' Speccatnnf Letters Patenti.A j Patented NOV. 191

,Application filed September 3, 191'5. Serial No. 48,764.

T0 all whomfzt may concern: v

Be it known that l, HORACE Gr. HORSTMAN,

al citizen of theUnited States, and a resident of the city of Cincinnati, in thecounty of Hamilton and` State of Ohio, haveV inventedA certain new and useful improvements in Spring-Wheels, of Which the following is a full, clear, and exact' description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,l

forming part of this specification. Y

My invention relates to spring Wheels for road Vehicles and the like, to take the place. of pneumatic tires for such vehicles and toy adequately fulfil the functions of such tires.

In wheels of this character, the great ditl# culty is in providing a wheel which Will be able to withstand `the strain of road travel Without breaking down, or else Without los-v ing the elasticity and resiliency necessary to' take up the shocks and jars ot the yunevenl There are great number of Y road surface. spring Wheels for the above stated purpose,

but they have never been successful because,l

the springs havenot been able to keep up and at the same time preserve theirelasrticity, or else the structuresvhave beerrsothe object to support the springs in such a, ina-nner that they will be easily removable, for replacement in case of breakage Without. taking the vehicleto the shop `for this purpose. Finally it is the object to provide ai Wheel of the above character whereinl ,the` springs are straight and set in radially to the Y hub of the Wheel, thereby gaining .theadvantages ofthe fullestspring support in all;

directions. f

These objects and Other advantages tobe. noted,l I accomplish by thatcertain ,con-

struction and` arrangement ofparts to be hereinafter more specifically pointed out and claimed. l

In thel drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the Wheel,

With the outer coveringbrokenaway toshow the spring-mounting. fr

Fig'Q is a section thereohtakenionthe lines 2,2,of Fig.- l..

The. Wheel of iny invention hasa telly l, o n which is inountedfa-tire, of. rubber or the. like, in theL ordinary manner.,V It siprefA ferred to liavethis tireof fairly sortk and.

springy rubber so that the rubber itself Will. I have! take up the small-jars inthe road. found .that in aA spring'ivheel orina pneu-U matic I vlieeltherattle'or jar given tothe .axle

of a. vehicleby aroughqpavenient, such, as

granite blocks or the like, is not taken lup byy the tire lo1? the Wheel unless the sarneis of such consistency that it Willlspread `and give Y lin. passing over the road. Accordingly IV preier to have the tire2 of a natiire'whichv give tol sniall rough-n will' have considerable ness` on the road.V

Extending inwardly I'roin the Aivheell and preferably;unitaryf'vvith the felly' is a felly supportfillustrated as a deep flange 3, which has spaced-closely around it a seriesof 'studs orpins 4, y,Which extend on both sides oftheflange.v On these pins are mounted the antifriction vand suspension rollers 5, which engage on eachsideo'f the springs asiwill'be described.

The flange is also"cut out in a series of circular apertures 7, 7, forclearance spaces, asWill be noted.

Mounted kon alanged sleeve8, which is de-r l signed to tit over the aXlel (not shown) is a hubineniber 9. This hub member is .supiy f ported -on ball bearings 10 in the .usual inanner and has its` periphery cut to forni the alternate slots and ridges 11, 12. slots l1 serves as'tlie mounting orone end of a vcomposite spring formed of a bundle of straightfspringstrips 18, 13, which isset into the sl'otfand extends away radially froin'the hub portion. A spacer ring 14 is set loosely` Each offthef,v

around the niiddleof this hub,` dividing theV slots into two, and the springdbundles are set in pairs, one on one side and one on the j other side of theV hub slots.

These springse-Xtend radially and passbev tween the rollers 5, vWhich areon thewheelf.4

'angdand the Wheel -is thereby suspended onthe springs. 1 The outer ends of, the bi1-nf dles offspringsare supported asrvfollowsl* Tivohub-supportedrings l5, 15,/*are pryo-l f vided, of a. size to extend aroundfthe wheel-fv iiangeadjacent to the clearance Vapertures A7,-

7, vabovementioned. There will beone iring. oneachside of the liangeand fthey.-arefcoiif-4 nected together by screws 16, 16, whichreX- tend through the clearance spaces and have rollers 17, 17, mounted over them. on tlieir intermediate portions.

The rings have a series ot notches 18, 18, cut in them and these notches receive the:

outer ends'o't the bundles ot springs.

The rings 15 have mounted on them the cover plates 19, 19, one on each side, which plates are secured by screws 2O to the rings and the hub, and serve to hold the springs and rollers in place.

is so constructed, the operation ot the wheel is easily understood. The wheel itselt is supported on the springs by the contact ot the rollers on the wheel Hange which areA set soY as to engage on each side ot each spring Y When the wheel passes over a depression, the laterally extending ones ot the radial springs will be bent undery spring tension and the upper and lower springs will move vertically. The outer rings in which the springs are mounted are tree to move aV given space as controlled by the clearance spaces in the wheel tiange. l

The spring carrying members may also turnagainst spring tension within the wheel flange, as the clearance spaces are circular the wheel are all taken up by a simple, du-

rable and easily demountable spring structure, the wheel and telly being entirely supported bythe rollers on the tlange ot the wheel. l Y

It is believed that the various advantages ot my invention are now apparent. It is not desired'to be limited to speciiic structure in theclaims that tollow, because ot a tailure to mention the various equivalent structures which might be substitutedV in my wheel without departing trom the spiritrot the invention therein.

Having thus described my invention, what I vclaim as new and desire to secure by Let-V ters Patent, is

1. In a'spring wheel, a hub member, an-

annular member spaced theretrom and rigidly secured thereto, a series ot substantially radially extending springs having their ends mounted in said members,ra telly surrounding but spaced trom said hub-supported member, an inwardly projecting telly support Vmounted on said Vtelly and means mounted on said support tor engaging said springs at points intermediate their ends and tor Vthereby supporting said telly on springs ot said series.

2, In a spring wheel, a hub member, an annular member spaced therefrom and secured thereto, av series ot radial 'springs reX- tending-.tromthe hub member to said annular member and mounted on said members, a telly surrounding said annular member, means mounted on said-telly tor movably engaging said springs at points-internasdiate their ends, and tor thereby yieldingly supporting said telly on Vsaid hub member, and motion limiting devicesr between said annular member and said 'means 3. In al spring wheel, a hub member, a

member spaced therefrom and rigidlyise`l cured thereto, radially extending springs extending between said members and havingtheir ends loosely mounted therein, a Y

telly, and means mounted on the tellyl tor engaging said springs at points substantially inici-way between their ends and movable i along said springs to accommodate relative motions between said members and said telly. e Y

4. In a spring wheel, a hub member, a member spaced therefrom andl rigidly secured thereto, a plurality ot radially eX- tending Vsprings extending trom said hub member to said second mentioned member,`

and having their ends movably supported on said members, a telly surrounding said annular member, an inwardly projecting annular flange mounted on said telly, and Y rollers journaled on said flange tor eiigaging said springs at points intermediate their ends and tor thereby yieldingly mounting said telly on said members.

5. In combination in a springwheel, a hub member, hub-supported members spaced therefrom, two sets ot radial springs, the

springs ot each set extending trom the hub member to one ot the hub-supported inembers and having their ends inovably mounted in said members, said sets being spaced apart axially oty said hub member, a telly, a telly support projecting inwardly between .said hub-supported members and the two sets ot springs, and means carried by said lsupport tor engaging the springs at points intermediate their ends and tor thereby yieldingly supporting said telly on said members. f

6.'In combination in a spring wheel, a hub member, two annular members spaced apart and spaced trom said hub member, a set ot radially `extending springs between ieach annular member and said hub member,

a separate cover plate tor securing veachy an- Yirs nular member to said hub member and tor.Y

`holding the springs ot the adjacent set inplace -in spring engaging slots termed in saidmeinbers, a telly surrounding lsaidvannular members but spaced therefrom, aI felly support carried by said felly and projecting inwardly between said annular members and the two sets of springs, and rollers mounted on both sides of said support for engaging said springs at points intermediate their ends and thereby yieldingly supporting said felly on said hub member.

7. In combination in a spring wheel, a hub member, two annular members spaced apart and surrounding but spaced from said hub-member, a separate set of radially eX- tending composite springs between each annular member and said liub member, having their ends loosely mounted in spring engage ing slots formed in said members, a separate disk for securing each annular member to said hub member and ei'igaging said springs and holding them in place in said slots, a felly surrounding said annular members but spaced therefrom, a felly support carried by said felly and projecting inwardly between said annular members and said sets of springs, antifriction devices mo-unted on said support for engaging said springs of both sets and for thereby yield# ingly mounting said elly on said hub meinber, and motion limiting devices between said annular member and vsaid support.

8. A spring wheel, comprising a hub member, having spring-engaging slots formed therein, an annular member surrounding -said hub member but spaced therefrom and having spring-engaging slots formed therein, substantially radially extending coinposite springs, comprising straight spring strips, extending between said members,y

each spring having its endsl loosely mounted in said spring-engagingk slots of said members, a disk rigidly secured to'said member.

HORACE G. HORSTMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

